Wiring rear view camera to hab 12v?

[BreweryDave]

I’ll be fitting a rear view camera next week, with a monitor clipped onto the rear view (not!) mirror.
I have sufficient cable to be wired, I also have the wireless sender/receiver so as it’s only a 6m pvc will probably go wireless for ease.

Also for ease, I think the easiest access for power is the 12v hab system at the rear, ( camera will go high at the back on the roof), wiring going down into the rear cupboard and then to hab wiring for bedroom lighting, and for the monitor into the interior courtesy light at the front.

I think!

Now, I know it means both parts will be always ‘on’ but of course I can turn the monitor off.
I have a decent battery and a large solar panel, and living on the Algarve am never short of sun to keep things charged!

I don’t relish getting involved with more complicated ignition wiring looms ( wouldn’t know where to start?) and dont want to spend hundreds on a ‘professional’ fitting for a £40 system?

Thoughts........?

 

[Sandancers]

I’ll be fitting a rear view camera next week, with a monitor clipped onto the rear view (not!) mirror.
I have sufficient cable to be wired, I also have the wireless sender/receiver so as it’s only a 6m pvc will probably go wireless for ease.

Also for ease, I think the easiest access for power is the 12v hab system at the rear, ( camera will go high at the back on the roof), wiring going down into the rear cupboard and then to hab wiring for bedroom lighting, and for the monitor into the interior courtesy light at the front.

I think!

Now, I know it means both parts will be always ‘on’ but of course I can turn the monitor off.
I have a decent battery and a large solar panel, and living on the Algarve am never short of sun to keep things charged!

I don’t relish getting involved with more complicated ignition wiring looms ( wouldn’t know where to start?) and dont want to spend hundreds on a ‘professional’ fitting for a £40 system?

Thoughts........?

The camera and transmitter will not take much power, but are you sure the 12v from the hab system is available when you want it, ie not switched off when the ignition is on ?

I am presuming the camera is to see back down the road and not for reversing duties ?

 

[BreweryDave]

The camera and transmitter will not take much power, but are you sure the 12v from the hab system is available when you want it, ie not switched off when the ignition is on ?

I am presuming the camera is to see back down the road and not for reversing duties ?

Yes, always live ( have a separate switch to turn it off and never do!) and yes, it’s primarily for a decentrear view, but of course will be useful for reversing as it’s a wide angle lens.

 

[Camping Gaza]

Watch the drain on the camera as it will always be on... also if its like my little camera it can get fairly hot, so pretty wasteful with a high consumption. Also best if you can switch it off as you dont want any short circuits happening fuse or no fuse.

 

[Sandancers]

Yes, always live ( have a separate switch to turn it off and never do!) and yes, it’s primarily for a decentrear view, but of course will be useful for reversing as it’s a wide angle lens.

Just go for it then. As it's hung outside any heat will quickly dissipate and you'll should have the added bonus of the ring of IR leds in the camera giving a red glow right thro the night which might be a deterrent to people with naughty intentions.

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[Campervan_man]

You could wire the camera to your rear side lights feed and the front to a 12V rocker switch.
Just mans driving with your side lights on.
Pro-fit should go to an ignition live { That's what I do when I fit them }.

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[MikeD]

On our Autotrail I just wired it in with the side lights.

So when I turned the lights on the camera fired up.

 

[Mikeco]

I have my rear view camera and all the other 12 volt items including sockets and lights and radio wired to the leisure battery but all through a 12v fuse box which has 10 connections. I have a master switch between the fuse box and batteries and I always turn the power off when the van is not being used. I don’t like the idea of such things as a camera and monitor on all the time.

 

[BreweryDave]

Dont have side lights, or driving lights, they’re either on or off ?

 

[MattR]

Dont have side lights, or driving lights, they’re either on or off ?

I've wired mine to my rear lights - the ones that come on when the normal night driving lights are on. The front is wired to a cigarette lighter type plug into a switched 12v ciggy extension adaptor.

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[pappajohn]

you'll should have the added bonus of the ring of IR leds in the camera giving a red glow right thro the night which might be a deterrent to people with naughty intentions.

I hope not.... Infra-red light is invisible to the human eye.
If you can see the red LEDs that's all they are... Red LEDs

 

[Aubs]

Pappajohn that’s not exactly true as IR light can be seen by the human eye up to around 1050 nanometers. That’s why some CCTV cameras with built in IR illumination have a faint red glow to them.

 

[pappajohn]

Pappajohn that’s not exactly true as IR light can be seen by the human eye up to around 1050 nanometers. That’s why some CCTV cameras with built in IR illumination have a faint red glow to them.

Using cells from the retinas of mice and people, and powerful lasers that emit pulses of infrared light, the researchers found that when laser light pulses rapidly, light-sensing cells in the retina sometimes get a double hit of infrared energy. When that happens, the eye is able to detect light that falls outside the visible spectrum.

"We're using what we learned in these experiments to try to develop a new tool that would allow physicians to not only examine the eye but also to stimulate specific parts of the retina to determine whether it's functioning properly," said senior investigator Vladimir J. Kefalov, PhD, associate professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at Washington University.

.

There's a massive difference between a high power laser and a few LEDs around a camera.
If you could see IR light why do the scientists need these experiments?
I'll take the word of science over someone selling something and saying they are IR lights.

 

[RogerThat]

I've wired mine to my rear lights

The camera on my van came wired to the reversing lights, but as I carry a scooter on the rear sometimes I wanted to be able to check in on it from time to time, so I rewired it to the rear lights too.

Which (as above) means I just turn on the headlights and the camera comes on

 

[Aubs]

I also use night vision equipment that use IR illumination some of which also give off a very faint red glow due to its wave length so I stand by my comments that the human eye can detect infrared light if it’s close to the visible spectrum.

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[pappajohn]

I also use night vision equipment that use IR illumination some of which also give off a very faint red glow due to its wave length so I stand by my comments that the human eye can detect infrared light if it’s close to the visible spectrum.

Again, you aren't seeing IR light, you're seeing the stray red light at the very edge of the infra red spectrum from inferior IR LEDs or ones specifically designed to emit SOME visible spectrum red as a waening there's a camera.
You don't see any red if you look at the end of a TV REMOTE when pressing buttons but look at it through your phone camera which can detect Infra red light. They use a superior quality LED.

 

[Aubs]

I also use night vision equipment that use IR illumination some of which also give off a very faint red glow due to its wave length so I stand by my comments that the human eye can detect infrared light if it’s close to the visible spectrum.

850nm to be precise

 

[Ingwe]

Again, you aren't seeing IR light, you're seeing the stray red light at the very edge of the infra red spectrum from inferior IR LEDs or ones specifically designed to emit SOME visible spectrum red as a waening there's a camera.
You don't see any red if you look at the end of a TV REMOTE when pressing buttons but look at it through your phone camera which can detect Infra red light. They use a superior quality LED.

Just tried looking for IR from my TV remote through my iPhone camera but saw nothing. Duff phone or duff remote control?

 

[eddie]

Thoughts........?

Don't do it.

 

[BreweryDave]

As it happens, I found a `spare' intelligent live feed in the space where the high rear light was so used that, and the monitor to the interior light, sorted.
The wireless sender was crap tho, even over 6m, so hard wired it through the cupboards!

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[eddie]

As it happens, I found a `spare' intelligent live feed in the space where the high rear light was so used that, and the monitor to the interior light, sorted.
The wireless sender was crap tho, even over 6m, so hard wired it through the cupboards!

Ah but does that mean that the whole thing is transmitting all the time? if so your battery will only last a few days? Hopefully it is only on when the ignition is on, likewise the monitor

 

[BreweryDave]

Ah but does that mean that the whole thing is transmitting all the time? if so your battery will only last a few days? Hopefully it is only on when the ignition is on, likewise the monitor

Nope, camera comes live when ignition switched on, and goes off about 15 mins after ignition turned off.( something to do with what’s called an intelligent circuit according to my pal ) Monitor has its own on/off switch?

 

[Mr Chrysalis]

I’ve run a cable along the chassis from the camera to the fuse box, where I have picked up a spare ignition on fuse. This goes to a rocker switch in the dash and then on to the monitor, which I have mounted on the dash in front of the steering wheel, where it is in my peripheral vision all the time. I have a second camera in the rear of my toad which connects wirelessly. The wireless one is subject to interference from passing unsupervised vehicles and occasionally picks up signals from another system. I once apparently had a horse following me when passing a horse box. So one else told me that they picked up the image from inside a prisoner transport!

 

[Jaws]

I’ll be fitting a rear view camera next week, with a monitor clipped onto the rear view (not!) mirror.
I have sufficient cable to be wired, I also have the wireless sender/receiver so as it’s only a 6m pvc will probably go wireless for ease.

Also for ease, I think the easiest access for power is the 12v hab system at the rear, ( camera will go high at the back on the roof), wiring going down into the rear cupboard and then to hab wiring for bedroom lighting, and for the monitor into the interior courtesy light at the front.

I think!

Now, I know it means both parts will be always ‘on’ but of course I can turn the monitor off.
I have a decent battery and a large solar panel, and living on the Algarve am never short of sun to keep things charged!

I don’t relish getting involved with more complicated ignition wiring looms ( wouldn’t know where to start?) and dont want to spend hundreds on a ‘professional’ fitting for a £40 system?

Thoughts........?

Wire it to a tail light feed
It will turn off with the ignition